FOI Act is not an end in itself
… SSS, Police, EFCC now more challenged
Media analysts have critically assessed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which allows public officers to make public records freely available to the citizenry, saying the act is not an end in itself.
Those who spoke with BusinessDay say they expect the Nigerian security forces such as State Security Service (SSS), the Police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately step in to investigate exposed acts of corruption against individuals or bodies with intention to prosecute them.
For John Ehiguese, CEO, Mediacraft Agency, there should be the buying in of security agencies in the FOIA for it to be meaningful, as “we expect the security forces to take off when the exposition is made, especially when there is manifest evidence of malfeasance in the exposition.” Citing the ongoing investigation about the phone hacking in the UK by News of the World, Ehiguese believes probing of exposed cases of graft by security forces should be a natural phenomenon.
But he fears that in Nigeria what is likely to happen is that the security forces may claim that nobody has come up with complaints yet. “Nigerians are waiting for who will bell the cat by asking the relevant questions and when the questions are answered, we will wait for what will happen afterwards. This is where the challenge is. What you may find is that a lot of things will be exposed but they may end there.
This is because Nigerian psyche is so accustomed and no more disturbed that people are stealing money,” he says. Layi Labode, a media and marketing consultant, says if any group or bodies in the system, the media, security agencies, the police the EFCC do not play its part it means that the FOIA will not work, as the Act is in the interest of everybody.
In his opinion, Ehi Braimah, managing director, Neo Media, notes that where cases of corruption are exposed, the security forces must act accordingly. “If there is evidence or even allegation exposed by the media, the forces have the duty to investigate such exposition and if facts are proven, they should prosecute the people involved,” he advises.
What the Act has done is to throw the ball into the court of the citizens and the media, and as such the media should in turn pass the ball to the court of the security agencies. With this, we will reduce corruption, he believes. Believing that the fight against corruption is at the domain of the citizens, media and the security forces, Yusuf Ageni, corporate affairs adviser, Nigerian Breweries, urges the media to sustain any exposed case.
According to him, it is not enough to report a case and leave it at that, as there should be a follow up, especially on steps relevant security agencies have taken. For Henry Adegbuyi, the Oyo State branch chairman of Nigerian Institute of Marketing of Nigeria, the media should equally “shout” when any security agency does not act on exposed corrupt information.
In his view, the publicity secretary of the Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), Demola Adedoyin, it is not time for celebration yet, as it is not about the law itself, it is about implementation. Speaking recently on the adequate implementation of the law, Peter Akpe of the Ministry of Justice says the ministry is examining how the implementation of the law will be effective.
Akpe identifies some challenges in the implementation of the law, which include the application and use of right by the citizens. To him, if the right of the citizen is abused or used frivolously, it will pose a challenge to the law. He also states that it may not be possible to provide information within seven days as stipulated by the law as some public records are not in good shape, fearing that retrieval of some information may take more days.
Akpe cites the USA Access to Information Act, which requires 20 working days. He also says that the Ministry of Justice is also concerned of law cases that might arise as a result of the failure of certain officers to provide information, as “we have concerns with going to court and still not burden the courts.”
In determining what is public interest, Akpe further notes that some public officers may be too official or confused on information that is of public interest. In his own submission at the NPAN forum on deepening FOIA, Anslem Chidi Odinkalu, African programme director, Open Society Initiative, says the public interest is national interest, regretting that public interest has been undermined by public officers.
Also, in his presentation, Tayo Oyetibo, legal practitioner to NPAN, points out that there is provision for verification or authentication of information supplied.
